Aeroplane.



L. R. ADAMS.- AEROPLANE. ArPLIoATIoN FILED $125.5, 1909.

L. R. ADAMS. .y

AEROPLANE. .APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1909.

Patented July 1910.

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AEROPLANB. APPLIQLTION -rILJsD FEB. 5, 1909.

" ranma July 26, 1910.

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L. R. ADAMS.

AEROPLANB.

APPLIDATI'OH Hum rms. s, 1909.

Panted July 26, 1910.

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LOUIS R. ADAMS, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

AEBOPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26, 1910.

Application led February 5, 1909. Serial No. 476,308.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that 4I, Louis R. ADAMS, a citizen of the United States, andresiding in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New.York, have invented a. new land useful Improvement in Aeroplanes, ofwhich the following is a s eciica-tion. i

My invention re a-tes to improvements 1n aeroplanes and frames therefor,and the objects of my invention are to produce a strong, simple andeconomica-l frame which will be light and rigid, the front edge of thelower plane being somewhat in advance of the front edge ofthe upperplane.

In carrying ontt-he objects of the invention generally stated above, itwill of course be understood that the essential features thereof aresusceptible to structural change and arrangement of parts withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention, but a preferred andpractical embodiment of the same issliox'vn in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- Vfl5`igure lis a plan view of my improved frame. Fig.2 is a front view or elevation of my improved frame. Fig. 3 is asectional vienr on the line a: m, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view showingthe su pol-tin planes stretched over the rame an the ri s in the dottedlines. F 5 is a front View or clevation of my improved aeroplane. Fig. 6is a sectional view on the line y 'y of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an elevation,partly broken away, showing the mechanism for warping the rear plane.Fig. 8 is a sectional view, showing the mechanism for warping the rearplane. Fig. 9 is a plan View, partljt in sect-ion and partly brokenawa-y, showing details of the mechanism.

In the drawings and specification similar numerals designate similarparts.

The frame of my improved aeroplane consists of four principal members 1,2, 3 and 4. The ends of the members 1 and 2 are secured together by anysuitable means, forming what I designate a group, as are also the endsof the members 13 and 4, forming al second group. The respective ends ofthe group composed of the members 1 and 2 are secured to the respectiveends of the grou composed of the members 3 and 4 by tie ro s 5-5, andthe outer members 1 and 4 of nach group are forced apart and maintainedin this position by spreader rods G und T, and the members 2 and 3 ofeach group arc forced apart by the spreader rod 8, which is much shorterthan the s reader rods 6 and 7.

In order to give the ame rigidity und to space the corresponding members1 and 2, and 2 and 4, I secure the members l and 3 together by the tierods 9 and 10, and the members 2 and 4 by the tie rods 11 and 12. I mayalso give the structure additional rigidity and stren th by means of guywires, as, for instance, ne guy Wire 13, which is secured to the member2 about midway be.- tween the end thereof and the central pointof suchmember, from which point it passes and is secured to the member 3 aboutmidway between the end and the central point thereof; thence it ispassed and secured to the central portion ofthe member 2; thence itpasses and is secured to the member 3 at a. point about midway betweenthe center and the opposite end thereof; thence it passes and is securedto the member 2 at a point midway bet-Ween the center and the oppositeend thereof. This y wire when drawn taut gives much additional rigidityand strength to the frame. It is understood that additional tie rods,guy wires, or cords and spreader rods may be used for further stilleningor strengthening the frame, should it be found necessary or desirable soto do.

As shown in Fig. 4, supportin consisting of silk, rubber cloth or otable material are secured to the main inembers of the frame, the membersl and 3 serving as a frame for the upper planeand the members 2 and 4for the lower plane. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, cross ribs maybe introduced into the material used to cover the frame or may besecured to the principal members of the frame.

y constructing my frame as described and shown, I am able to obtain twoplane surfaces, the lower one of which curves toward the front and theupper one toward the rear, so that the central portion of the lowersurface is practically all in advance of the central portion of the uper surface, while the. ends of such planes lie substantially one abovethe other. The su porting pla-nes may be continued to the en s of therame or may be terminated at. anypoint found desirable.

I have also shown in Fig. 4 a platform mounted on the members 2 and 4 ofthe frame, which supports a motor l5 which drives propellers 16-16 forthe purpose of planes er suitpropellin the aero lane: For the purpose ofcontro ing and c :ingingl the direction of tli ht to right or left, Iave provided a ruder 17 and for the purpose of causing the aeroplane torise or fall 1n its flight I have rovlded a horizontal rudder 18 whichmay be. elevated or lowered by means of the lever 20. The scat for theoperator I have designated by the numeral 21.

B the construction shown the ramefor the ower plane is composed of theprincipal members 2 and 4, or one from each of the groups beforementioned. The frame for the u per plane is composed of the members 1 an3, being also one member from each of the groups before mentioned. Asthese principal members 1, 2, 3 and 4 are under hi h tension produced bythe spreader rods 6, and 8 and the tie rods 5 5, the frame isexceedingly rigid, and any strain upon any one of the members isdistributed among all the otherv principal members through the spreaderrods, tie rods, spacing rods and guy wires, so that the lanes have verylittle tendency to deviate om their normal shape when subjected tostrains. I have also found that, by placing the central portion of thelower lane in advance of the central ortion ofp the upper plane,additional stability is given to my aeroplane in flight, because, whenthe aeroplane tends to rise upward, the

.upper plane 1s partially blanketed by the lower plane, in eilectreducing the supporting surfaces and causing the structure to rightitself automatically. When the structure tends to dive, the upper planeis then more freely exposed to the air currents, causing the structureto again right itself automatically.

By the structure described, I obtain a frame which is exceedingly rigid,which it is difficult to distort from its true form and in which thestrains put upon any one of the main members are distributed among allof the other main members; which is very light contains but few parts,which is particularly ri id at the outer ends thereof, and in which emain members which form the front edge of the supporting planes areunder high tension.

As shown in the drawings, the spreader rods 6 und 7 pass on either sideof the spreader rod 8 and are secured thereto by a bolt 21. I havefound, however, that I can dispense with this bolt and also with therudder-18, and cause my aeroplane to rise or fall in its flight byshifting the spreader rods 6 and "7 up or down upon the rod 8, whichcauses the rear upper plane to act as a rudder and serve practically thesame purpose as the rudder 18. This movement of the rods 6 and 7 uponthe rod 8 I can produce by means of the mechanism shown in Figs. 7, 8,and 9, which consists of an endless chain 22 attached to the spreaderrods 6 and 7 und passing over the pulley 23, and a sprocket wheel 24,both supported from the spreader rod 8. The sprocket wheel 24 is rotatedby means of a shaft 26, which is supported in the bearings Q5, by meansof a ear 27, mounted near the center of said sha v, through a worm 2S,attached to a shaft 30 mounted in the bearings 2li-Q9, on the op ositeend of which is a hand wheel 31, by rotating which the operator operatesthe mechanism. As the lower plane composed of the members 4 and 2carries the engine, ropcllers and operator, and'is very rigidly Ibracedat the point ot' their sup` port, the inertia of this plane is fargreater than the inertia of the up er plane, and it is likewise morerigid, willi the result that when the spreader rods 6 and 7 are movedupward on the rod 8 the rear end of the upper plane is tilted upward;and when they are moved downward, the rear end of the upper plane istilted downward, causing the upper plane to perform the functions of arudder. When the upper plane is used as a rudder it is desirable tointerpose additional braces between the members 3 and 4, and 2 and 3, asshown in Fig. 5. These braces disposed as shown in Fig. 5 tend tomaintain the members 2, 3 and fl in definite spaced relation t0 eachother, and to throw all the movement caused by the shifting of thespacing rods 6 and 7 upon the frame member 1 which forms the rear memberof the frame of the upper plane.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

l. An aeroplane provided with4 two planes, the central portion of thelower plane being inadvance of the central portion of the upper planeand the ends of such planes lylng substantially one above the other.

2. A frame for aeroplanes consisting of four principal members, the endsof which are secured together in groups of two; tie rods adapted tospace apart the ends of such groups, and spreader rods adapted to forcethe members of one group away from the members of the other group andsubject them to constant tension.

A frame for aeroplanes consisting of four principal members, the ends ofwhich are secured together in groups of two; tie rods adapted to spaceapart. the ends of such groups, und spreader rods adapted to force eachmember of cach group away from the corrcspondin member of the othergroup and subject t ein to constant tension.

4. A frame for aeroplaues consistin r of four principal members, theends of w lich are secured together in groups of two; tie rods adaptedto prevent the ends of such groups from separating, and spreader rodsadapted to force corresponding members oi such roups away from eachother.

5. fra-me for aeroplanes consisting of four principal members, the endsof which are secured together in groups of two; tic rods adapted tospace apart the ends of such groups, and spreader rods adapted to forceone member of each group away from a member of the other group; one ofsuch spreader rods being longer than the other.

6'. A frame for aeroplanes consistin of four principal members, the endsof w ich are secured together in groups of two; spreader rods adapted tomaintain such members inv such spaced relation to each other that twomembers, one from each group, are adapted to constitute a frame for eachof the two pla-nes.

7. A frame for aeroplanes consisting of four principal members, the endsof which are secured together in groups of two, means for spacing apartthe ends of such groups,

and means for forcing the members of one group away from the members ofthe other group and subjecting them to constant ten- S1011.

B. An aeroplane having two planes, one above the other, the centralportion of the lower plane being in advance of the central orton of theupper plane, and means for epressing or elevating the rear edge of theupper plane.

9. An aeroplane provided with two planes, one above the other, and meansfor depressing or elevating the longitudinal edge of one plane withreference to the other plane.

10. An aeroplane provided with two lanes, the central ortion of oneplane being in advance of t e central portion of the other plane and theends of such planes lying substantially one above the other.

LOUIS B. ADAMS. 1ilVitneSses:

FRED W. MoFFE'r'r, Fimo. F. Woons.

